A meeting this week between city officials and RV park operators prompted changes to a proposed ordinance regulating the recreational campgrounds.

Russellville City Planner David Harris said the meeting was convened after some local park operators expressed concerns at last month’s City Council meeting about the ordinance’s limit on length of stay in RV parks and the restriction of individual meters at each camp site.

Harris said he included both restrictions to prevent RV parks from becoming places where people lived permanently. After discussions at Thursday’s meeting, he said the restriction on individual meters was removed from the proposed ordinance.

Instead of lifting the proposed 60-day limit on length of stay at RV parks, that time limit has been increased to 90 days, Harris said.

Still, David Ivy, operator of Ivy’s Cove RV Retreat, said he doesn’t understand the need for a limit at all and thinks such a restriction could be bad for business.

“I feel like we’re saying, ‘You’re not welcome. You can stay 60 days and that’s it,’” he said.

Ivy said there could be many reasons for a person to stay at an RV park for an extended length of time, including persons with health concerns and especially contract laborers.

“From a business person’s standpoint, I feel like it is a restriction from me having the opportunity to do business,” he said.

While Harris said he understood Ivy’s concerns, he noted some unique circumstances could be brought to the Board of Adjustment for a waiver of the length restriction.

Length of stay restrictions are quite common, Harris said, and many cities have them. He used Conway and North Little Rock, with 90-day restrictions, and Auburn, Ala., with a 60-day restriction, as a few examples.

The proposed ordinance will be brought before the City Council, which will have the opportunity to approve or deny it.